This disclosure relates generally to computer security, and specifically, to collecting applications for portable electronic devices, and analyzing the applications through comparisons, correlations, and inferences.
Today's portable electronic devices, such as cellular telephones, smartphones, wireless-enabled personal data assistants, tablet PCs, netbooks, and the like, are becoming more common as platforms for various software applications. There are literally hundreds of thousands of mobile applications covering categories such as games, entertainment, music, movies, business, news, productivity, and many more. These applications are made available to consumers through online marketplaces such as the Android Marketplace, Apple AppStore, Amazon AppStore, and many others. An application may be offered for free or require payment. Developers may be compensated through commissions, the placement of advertisements in the applications, or both.
However, while there are many positive software applications available on the market, the ability to interact, install, and operate third party software inevitably leaves the device susceptible to vulnerabilities, malware, and other harmful software applications. Unlike desktop computers and other less portable computing devices that can install and run antivirus software to protect against harmful software applications, portable electronic devices lack the processing power or resources for effectively running analogous software.
There exist many unscrupulous people who engage in software piracy and hacking. Many of the application marketplaces are flooded with unauthorized application copies or versions. Everybody suffers. The developer fails to receive compensation and may not have the resources to continue research and development on other products. The unauthorized version of the application may have been modified with a virus or other malware code. Thus, the consumer suffers.
Therefore, there is a need for improved techniques and systems for computer security, including mobile application security.